River Street Advisors LLC Increases Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

River Street Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,296 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $337.93 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $369.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $338.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The company has a market cap of $334.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,339.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.35.

About Home Depot

The Home Depot, Inc operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States and internationally. It sells various building materials, home improvement products, lawn and garden products, and décor products, as well as facilities maintenance, repair, and operations products. The company also offers installation services for flooring, water heaters, bath, garage doors, cabinets, cabinet makeovers, countertops, sheds, furnaces and central air systems, and windows.